Your Telecommunications Image

How you use your telecommunications tools says a lot about you, and if you’re a marketer, your telecommunications should say “excellence”! Today’s business marketing professionals must know not only how to use technology with excellence but also how to select the appropriate telecommunications tool. Is e-mail best? A phone call? A fax? For people who began their business careers with only a telephone, the latest telecommunications choices can be especially daunting. A baby boomer–aged client recently told me, “It gets so I just don’t know what to use. Sometimes I send an e-mail and leave a voice mail to make sure I’m covered, and then I still think that maybe I should have sent a fax.”

As I shared with him, it is best to return the message using the same medium the sender used, if possible. At least you’re being consistent. If that’s not possible, explain that you did receive the message (i.e., e-mail) and why you’re responding in the manner (i.e., telephone) you’ve chosen.
Here are some additional tips to enhance your image as it is communicated via technology.

Cellular Phones
Many business people now carry cellular phones. While they are wonderful tools for convenience and safety, it’s easy to form bad habits with a telephone that’s so accessible. Some reminders:

• Avoid making calls without permission during formal meetings.
• Use the same rule in social situations. Remember the Golden Rule. How would you feel?
• If your phone rings while talking to someone in person, excuse yourself before answering it.
• Rule of thumb: Don’t assume—ASK FIRST.
• Use a telephone to communicate thoroughly and explain issues that may be more difficult to put in writing at this time.

Fax and E-mail Basics
Fax and e-mail communications allow timely, important information to be sent quickly and fairly cheaply. Some reminders:

• Both are tools designed to help us accomplish tasks.
• Alert the receiver as to the general purpose of the fax or e-mail.
• Don’t use either tool to avoid talking to a real person.
• Neither are private.
• Avoid offensive language or jokes about race, sex, or sexual orientation.
• Be concise and clear about the call-back or fax-back procedure.

E-mail Etiquette
E-mail etiquette follows many of the same rules that your high school English teacher taught you about writing short essays. Because e-mail makes an instant answer possible, it makes it seem required. A month in e-mail feels like 20 years. Some reminders:

• Answer ASAP—within 24 to 48 hours.
• Be more compact than a letter, but longer than a memo.
• Don’t forget punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
• Respond to the sender’s questions when returning e-mail.
• Use the “Subject” or “Regarding” feature of your e-mail to summarize the general purpose. Keep it current.
• Use a greeting and a salutation. It’s friendlier.
• Never use e-mail to reprimand or to send sensitive information.
• Remember e-mail “lays it on the line” and is written word. There is a finality about an e-mail message.

A large Chicago payroll/computer services organization recently instated a telecommunications task force to help employees make decisions and solve problems surrounding their use of technology. So far, it’s the most dynamic task force in place—with constant requests from departments to help them with projects like e-mail templates so departments can work together better. Working together better—that’s the true benefit of effective telecommunications—increased productivity and successful business relationships. It’s a great reason for you to keep your telecommunications image up to date and excellent.